Mail the Resume!

In this electronic world of submitting your resume online, filling out endless applications and being treated like a number, it’s time to take a stand. Go old school and mail your resume. Yes, print it out on good paper, write a handwritten short cover letter and hand write the address on the envelope. Get ahead of the fray and dig through Google, LinkedIn, Glassdoor etc. to figure out who you need to send the letter too – the hiring manger AND then – do it.  

It works, when is the last time you actually got a real letter? Never - right? The mail you get is just junk mail and the occasional bill that you forgot to have emailed to you.

Mail it – go old school – United States Postal Service old school! You might actually get a response from a real live person. 

Plug & Play

Part of an easy job search is to develop a document to use with your resume. This “plug and play list” will have all your accomplishments and all of your skill sets. You list all of them out separately. When you are applying for a job and re-writing your resume you can “plug and play” what is appropriate to the job.

Keep in mind, this is a working document, not one you will share when taking in your resume. If you have a web site you formalize the list and post it. Mostly, this document is strictly for convenience when you are styling your resume for your next job.

A few rules:

• No stodgy boiler plate phrases.

• No exaggerating the truth. If it was a team effort that is OK. You were part of a successful team.

• Write in your own voice. Writing like you are someone else shows up in the interview. When we drill you down and get the – who, what, where, why and when (5W’s) we can pick out all the truths and falsehoods.

• Be prepared to go into detail about all your accomplishments. Again the 5W’s.

• We like numbers -- Increased sales by 200%. Saved $71 million. Reduced over due balances by 25%.

So, get going on your plug and play and make it easy to change up your resume as needed.